


Reaching The Shore

by ladyoneill



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Forced Bonding, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, References to Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-09
Updated: 2013-06-09
Packaged: 2017-12-14 10:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/836002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyoneill/pseuds/ladyoneill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Direct Sequel to "Devil And The Deep Blue Sea", can Stiles and Derek make the most of the mating forced upon them by Peter or will they continue to wallow in misery?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reaching The Shore

**Author's Note:**

> Well, people wanted it so I have provided. I hope this is a bit happier and gives the readers hope for the pairing and their future. This flows directly from the previous story with one tiny change in that one ended with Stiles on his feet and this one starts with him still sitting. From alternating POVs, Stiles and Derek. Derek may seem a bit OOC but I see him as very lost after Peter took back the Alpha--trapped as his Beta, both torn between loving his only remaining family and hating and fearing him, wanting Stiles but knowing he's too young, etc. And please note that this version of Peter is not very nice. Also, he gave Scott no choice but to join his Pack--ditto with all the other Betas including Jackson.
> 
> The "mildly dubious consent" tag references only that they were forced to have sex in the previous fic and what's in Derek's own head.
> 
> I will set up a series when I get home from church (running late) but for now the previous fic can be found in my Teen Wolf section here at AO3. It was posted in mid April or so.

Stiles sat there for a few more minutes, trying to control his breathing and stave off the panic he could feel building, but finally the pain in his ass got to be too much and he shoved himself to his feet. Walking hurt, too--everything was going to hurt for awhile--but it was better than sitting. Grabbing the bottle of Febrize he kept to air out his room after solo fun, he sprayed it over the bed, then pulled off the soiled sheets and stuffed them in the hamper, before spraying the mattress. 

The soiled bedding would have to wait until Sunday, his usual laundry day, or dad would get suspicious.

Limping across the hall, he went into the bathroom, avoided the mirror and took the quickest yet most thorough shower of his life. It was weird, washing away another guy's cum, and he was just too sore to use his fingers to clean himself out, but he managed to relax his muscles enough to let most of it slip out.

It was all very gross.

Maybe...maybe if he'd enjoyed it, it wouldn't be gross. Maybe if he had a lover here helping him wash...

One hand braced next to the faucet, Stiles ducked his head under the shower spray and closed his eyes as surprising grief hit him hard.

Shit, he was crying.

*****

By the time he finally arrived home, Derek was soaked to the bone. Victoria glared at him as he dripped water all over the newly sanded hardwood floors, but he didn't care, just took the stairs two at a time to his room where he stripped off his clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. As he stood there naked, the scent of Stiles slid up his body to his nose. There were only a few places their bare skin had touched, but it was enough.

Too much.

The shower upstairs barely worked, the water was tepid, but Derek scrubbed until his skin turned red and then quickly faded, and still he could smell Stiles.

His mate.

He put a fist went through the already broken tiled wall and cursed at the burst of pain, but the tantalizing scent remained.

Finally turning off the water, he wrapped a towel around his hips and trudged back to his room to find Peter waiting for him.

*****

Cutting up chicken for a quick stir fry, Stiles imagined plunging the knife through Peter's skull. Would it kill him?

Maybe if he dipped it in wolfsbane...

Rinsing off the knife, he reached up for the cornstarch on an upper cabinet shelf and winced as the bite on his shoulder pulled. He'd bandaged it as best he could, the one on his wrist as well--and he was going to have to play that one off as a kitchen accident-- but his shoulder stung and ached as a bitter reminder.

Foregoing the cornstarch for the moment, he rested his hands on the counter and counted his breaths again. He couldn't afford a panic attack, not with his dad due home any minute. He couldn't give his dad any clue that anything was wrong.

A thought hit him. Mates lived together. He was sixteen with two more years of school left. He couldn't...

What if Peter made them?

And there it came.

Falling to his knees, breath choked out of him, headache pounding through him, the panic took him.

*****

Through the bond, Derek felt it--wild swings of emotions, incapacitating fear--and he went to one knee, his hand falling forward to the floor to brace himself. He couldn't breathe.

Rationally he'd known the bond would tie him to Stiles, that he'd be able to feel what he felt to a certain extent, but he hadn't known it could be like this--so completely out of his control.

No one had ever told him.

"You can force him to calm, Derek."

He managed a weak glare at his uncle, but finally caught his breath and tried to concentrate on Stiles. It was obvious he was having a panic attack--and was that really a surprise?

Derek never should have left him.

Going to both knees and fisting his hands on his thighs, Derek closed his eyes and took deep, even breaths.

And thought of Stiles.

*****

The panic eased and the darkness at the edge of his vision retreated. Taking a deep breath, Stiles made a bewildered noise. The wound on his shoulder throbbed in time with his rapidly pounding heart, but slowed as it did.

And he knew.

Derek was doing this. Derek had felt him panic.

Oh shit, no. He didn't want that kind of connection, did he? He wasn't a werewolf, how was it even possible? Would he be able to feel everything Derek felt? Right after the bite, he'd felt the bond, but then Derek had left and it had faded quickly and he'd let himself believe he'd imagined it.

He couldn't deal with this.

Forcing all thought from his mind, Stiles pushed himself back to his feet and reached for a clean knife and a bundle of carrots.

*****

Stiles was okay and Derek couldn't feel him anymore. Maybe the connection only occurred when the emotions were intense. He could ask Peter, but he didn't really want to ask his uncle anything. It was hard enough to keep from attacking his Alpha.

Rising to his feet, he ignored him as best he could and dug some clean clothes out of a crate along one wall of his room. As he dressed, his rage began to fade and finally he was able to give Peter a cool look. "What do you want?"

Peter's smile was smarmy. "Why, to congratulate you, of course, on a successful mating, although I'm surprised you left the boy so soon. Most matings last for hours, long into the night."

"His dad was coming home." Derek ground his teeth and crossed his arms over his chest.

"And he wanted you gone."

He hated Peter's perception. "You've congratulated me. Now get out."

Peter had him against the wall, one hand around his throat, before he could regret the fury in his tone of voice, and there was nothing smarmy or pleased on his uncle's face now. "I gave you a gift, Derek. One I could have easily snatched from beneath you. Show your gratitude or at least your respect."

Without his approval, his eyes fell, his head turned and Derek winced when Peter's teeth dug into his throat above where his thumb pressed into his clavicle. The pack bond--never truly gone--flared to life and he submitted with a whine.

"Good boy."

*****

Somehow Stiles managed to get through dinner with his dad and even force down a few bites without the older man realizing anything was wrong. After seeing him off to the tv and a 49ers preseason game, Stiles cleaned up the kitchen and headed up to his room. Until he crossed the threshold, he'd managed to keep the memories at bay, but the sight of the unmade bed brought them roaring back and he collapsed in his desk chair, only to wince in pain.

Jesus, this had to get better, right?

Which made him realize that he'd have plenty of opportunities to find that out.

Frowning, he opened his laptop and logged into the ghost drive where he stored all werewolf and supernatural related material. There was plenty of information on mating and bonding, but he knew a lot of it was wrong, and Derek had always refused to provide him with the right answers. Peter probably would have gleefully, but Stiles avoided him like the plague. The books he'd lent him had just enough information to leave him with more questions.

His fingers stilled on the touch pad.

If Derek hadn't...hadn't manned up...If he hadn't claimed him...

Stiles' stomach clenched and he deeply regretted eating anything. Closing his eyes, he fought to keep his breathing even and deep, and pushed aside thoughts of the psychotic Alpha. When he opened them again, he clicked on a treatise concerning effects of the bond between a werewolf and human. Maybe it was more accurate than he'd originally assumed, because he remembered it had mentioned the wolf's ability to feel and affect the strong emotions of the human partner.

Derek had calmed him down.

What else could he make him feel from a distance?

*****

They sat in one of the few finished rooms of the house, Peter's library: Peter behind the mahogany desk sipping a glass of wine; Derek on the other side, staring at his lap, ignoring his own drink.

"Why did you give me the option? Why didn't you just claim him yourself?"

"Because you wanted him. I'm not cruel unless I have to be, Derek. And, all right, perhaps forcing you to claim him with no preparation and at such a young age provided me with a small measure of satisfaction--I never said I wasn't petty--but, in the end, I want you to be happy."

"You want me loyal," Derek bit out, still not looking at his uncle.

Peter snorted. "True. I don't need you challenging me. You wouldn't win, of course, but I don't want to kill my only surviving kin. I gave you Stiles to keep you mine, Derek, and to keep you busy. He's a challenge and he's going to question everything, but he's yours now and he's Pack."

"He's his own person. I'd never tie him to me like we used to. We haven't done that in three generations, Peter."

"Then, if he strays or rebels, I'll make you punish him," Peter said coldly, his voice sending a shiver down Derek's spine and making his wolf whine.

"I can't hurt my mate," he ground out, eyes finally flickering up to see the cool mask on his uncle's face.

"Do you know why that is?"

No. Derek just knew it was supposed to be physically impossible to do anything but inadvertent harm to a mate. His wolf would never let him deliberately shove Stiles into a wall or smack his head into the steering wheel again. It would make him freeze before he could even make a move to hurt him. He shook his head.

"The bond isn't just a word, Derek. It's a chemical connection between two people, even between a werewolf and a human. To hurt a mate is to hurt ourselves. Our wolves won't allow it. Any deliberate pain we cause a mate will be felt by us twofold. But, we don't want to hurt them either. The connection is too deep."

"But...it's not love," he finally said, his voice small, because shouldn't it be?

"No, of course not. Love is a human construct. Of course we can love and I hope you and Stiles fall madly in love, but the bond is deeper than that. It's a...comfort. Protection. Provision. And, for a male and female pairing, the urge to procreate."

"You've taken that from me."

Peter snorted. "You were going to claim the boy at some point, Derek. Don't kid yourself."

Derek grunted and reached for his wine, taking a sip, and pondering his uncle's words. "The bond doesn't work the same way for Stiles as it does for me."

"No, not unless you complete it the old-fashioned way, but I won't force that. You will keep him in line, keep him occupied. Maybe with a cub or two. I don't have a problem with the two of you using a surrogate for that. It probably won't work for you, but should for Stiles, but keep him faithful, Derek. Infidelity can be punishable by death and I'd make you do it."

Derek could feel himself go white with shock, and his hands trembled so badly he barely got his glass back on the desk before he dropped it. "You just said we can't hurt our mates."

"I'm the Alpha, Derek. I can force you to do it." Peter's eyes gleamed hard like diamonds, and Derek shivered.

"He won't cheat," he promised dully, but...Of course, if given the opportunity, he would, and he was still in love with Lydia, wasn't he? He was sixteen and obviously hadn't wanted Derek. Humans didn't mate for life, only werewolves. Stiles would want more, other, not him.

This was never going to work.

*****

Stiles was experimenting. After reading for nearly two hours, he was sitting in his darkened room, only his breathing breaking the silence. He was attempting to meditate. It wasn't going well, his mind too scattered, his meds wearing off, his focus shot.

He tried to concentrate on Derek, but all that did was make him remember how it felt to have the older man inside him, filling him way past the point of comfort, but...

At the time, Stiles hadn't wanted to enjoy it, hadn't wanted to come, but now he couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like if he had. He'd felt disassociated--they hadn't even kissed, barely touched. Derek probably felt the same way, along with guilt, massive guilt, because Stiles knew him too well, and, even though they'd never talked about it, he knew one of the reasons they'd never gone farther than friends was the age difference and that Stiles was legally a minor.

But, if they'd kissed and touched and if he'd gotten hard and come...would it have been better?

Of course, Stiles could easily be projecting his own desires onto Derek. There was no evidence that he was gay at all. He'd never said he was attracted to men or liked men. He'd only admitted to liking Stiles and that was miles away from wanting him.

But, maybe it was different with werewolves? Before the fire, Peter had a female mate, a child, but he'd offered to claim Stiles, make him his mate. Maybe being bisexual was the norm. The books he'd scanned onto his computer mentioned homosexual pairings without any hint that this was looked down on or unusual.

Of course, that meant no babies.

Derek wouldn't be able to have kids.

Neither would he.

Shit.

*****

"I won't force him to live here with you, not until he's of legal age. I don't want a war with the Sheriff's Department on top of the one coming with the Hunters. But, that doesn't mean you get to ignore him, Derek. He's your mate. You need to teach him what that means, what that means to our Pack, and a platonic relationship is not acceptable."

Derek sneered. "Do you get some kind of vicarious thrill at the thought of me fucking a kid?"

Peter chose to be amused and finished his wine before answering. "I enjoy that you're punishing yourself, but I do like Stiles. Don't treat him like shit."

"I don't understand you." And he didn't. What the Hell did his uncle want? He said he was giving him a gift, but he also wanted him to suffer. Derek felt like pulling his hair out!

"I'm a very complicated person." Peter grinned and Derek just gaped at him, then slammed back the rest of his wine before rising to his feet.

"Unless you have any other pearls of wisdom to share, I'm going to bed."

"Sweet dreams!"

Yeah, that was unlikely. As Derek headed upstairs, he deliberately tamped down on his emotions and the bond linking him to Stiles. Before he opened the bond fully again, he needed to explain so many things to him. Stiles had to have felt him help him through the panic attack and that had to be freaking him out, but Derek couldn't face him yet. Not tonight.

Stiles had been so angry, so...empty. He'd said they could make it better, but had he meant it?

*****

Around midnight Stiles gave up on meditation and returned to troll killing. Sitting on one hip wasn't optimal but was less painful, and he knew sleep wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He'd put clean sheets on and the room no longer smelled of sex, but he wasn't sure he could get in that bed tonight. He wasn't sure what the memories would do to him.

Finally around two in the morning he gave up on the game and went downstairs to curl up on the couch with Iron Man on low on the tv.

He was asleep before the funvee blew up.

*****

Derek didn't sleep. He did about five hundred push ups and, long after the other two occupants of the house were asleep, he went for a ten mile run through the forest. A part of him half-hoped he'd run into hunters and just let them end his misery, but all he saw were a couple of raccoons and a muskrat on the edge of the lake.

Finally exhausted, he returned to the house around two in the morning and fell onto his mattress, sweaty and disgusting and uncaring that he reeked. Closing his eyes, he immediately saw Stiles' unhappy face, and opened them again. 

Rolling onto his back he stared blankly at the ceiling until dawn.

*****

Stiles awakened to find his dad staring down at him, eyebrows raised, hands on his hips. 

What?

Oh, right, hadn't wanted to sleep in his bed.

Yawning, he wiped drool off his chin and stretched, then winced as his body still ached in new places.

"I know it's summer, Stiles, but you do have a perfectly good bed."

He yawned again and scratched his belly, which pulled on the bite mark on his shoulder and made him wince again.

"See, you're obviously all stiff."

Having no clue how to respond to that, Stiles made a gurgling noise and rolled over to smash his face into the back of the couch.

John sighed.

A little bit later his dad called out a goodbye and the front door closed behind him. Stiles' bladder finally forced himself off the couch and into the downstairs bathroom. After he was finished, he stared blearily into the mirror, then tugged the shirt off and peeled back the gauze to stare at the bite mark. It was turning purple. Digging into the medicine cabinet he found some Neosporin and smeared it on the wound, then tossed the used gauze and tape into the trash. Last thing he needed was for the bite to become infected and letting it breathe would be for the best. He repeated all that with the bite on his wrist, wincing as it really stung--there just wasn't any fat there, mostly bone and thin skin.

Leaving the bathroom, he headed for the kitchen, vaguely noting that his ass wasn't quite as sore. He poked at it as he dug into the fridge for leftover pizza, then ate that leaning against the counter and sipping a cup of coffee. When he was done he glanced at the clock on the microwave and frowned.

It was nearly nine. Before everything went so horribly bad, Derek had said he'd be by at eight for their run. Not that Stiles was running anywhere. He'd just barely stopped limping.

But, Derek was late.

Derek was never late.

Which meant the asshole was avoiding him.

Scowling, Stiles stomped up the stairs to find his phone.

*****

Eight o'clock rolled by and Derek sat on his bed, brooding. He'd told Stiles he would see him at eight, but he couldn't face him.

He had no idea what to tell him.

But, the separation was making him ache, a physical pain he didn't understand. Mates didn't have to be in proximity all the time. His dad had been the Pack ambassador, often going on week long trips to other packs.

Maybe because the bond was so new? 

Or because it was so wrong?

Rubbing his hands up over his face, he tugged on his hair in frustration and flopped back onto the mattress. 

At least Peter was leaving him alone. The Alpha had been awake for nearly two hours and was currently on his computer in the library while Victoria cleaned the kitchen after breakfast.

The thought of food turned his stomach and he rolled over to bury his face in his pillow, growling in frustration as he did so. 

Derek knew he wasn't a good person. He knew he deserved punishment for his unforgivable crime against his Pack. But, why did his punishment have to be to have everything he wanted given to him in the worst way possible?

His wolf whined. He whined.

And, finally he couldn't bear it any longer. Naked, shifting, he jumped out the window and ran into the forest.

*****

Derek's phone went to voicemail--all ten times Stiles dialed it in the hour he tried--and he left increasingly nasty messages. As he sat at his desk glaring at the phone in his hand, angry and frustrated, the window opened and he quickly turned.

But, it was just Scott, a friendly smile on his face until his nose wrinkled.

Fucking werewolves.

"Stiles...?"

Spinning back around, he randomly clicked on a tab in Chrome. Great, knotting dildos. Why was that open again? Knotting was only for breeding and he couldn't be bred...Could he? Shit, he better not be able to get pregnant.

"Stiles!"

Scott interrupted his train of thought and he blurted out, "You can't knock up a guy, right?"

"...What?"

Stiles spun back around, gesturing wildly. "Werewolves have to knot to make a baby, right?" Ignoring his best friend turning bright red, he continued, "So if there's no knotting, there's no babies, right?"

"Stiles, what the hell, man! We swore never to discuss knotting," his voice dropped to a whisper on that word, "Again!"

Rolling his eyes, Stiles leaned back in his chair then winced.

"Why do you smell like pain and what did you do to your wrist?"

"Fell down, cut myself." He tugged the sleeve down lower as one of the punctures was showing.

"Yeah, no, you don't smell bruised. You do smell like blood. The room does, too, and ...um...other things. And...Derek?" Scott's dark brown eyes lasered in on him and Stiles tried not to squirm. "What the Hell happened?"

"Nothing," Stiles muttered, dropping his eyes and starting to turn back to the computer, but with werewolf speed Scott stopped him, hand on the chair arm, in a crouch. 

"Jesus, you really smell like Derek, like..." 

Sighing as realization flooded those dark eyes along with horror and shock and God knows what else, Stiles closed his own in resignation. It wasn't like they could keep this a secret from the Pack, but...

Opening his eyes again, he slowly shoved up the sleeve of his shirt to bare his wrist and the ugly red bite mark surrounded by a purpling bruise.

"Oh fuck!" Fury blazed on Scott's face and he jumped to his feet. "I'm going to kill him." As he headed to the window, Stiles moved to intercept him and nearly tripped over his own feet as his ass throbbed in pain from sitting too long. Instinctively he clutched it and Scott stopped moving to gape at him. "Did he fuck you?"

As he slowly nodded, Stiles felt his own cheeks flush and saw Scott deflate. He started to sink onto the bed, thought better of it and dropped to the floor. Rolling the chair towards him, Stiles carefully sat back down.

"But...why? I mean, I know you like him that way. Don't have any clue why, but it's obvious, but mating? You haven't even had sex with him before now, you would have told me. So, why did he mate with you now? You're sixteen. Your dad's going to kill you, both of you."

"Dad can't know," he replied a bit frantically. "He just can't. It'll kill him. He doesn't even think I could be gay and..."

"Stiles, tell me why Derek mated with you. Sex is one thing, but you haven't even been dating, have you?"

"No." He sighed heavily. "Okay, look, some bug got up Peter's ass and he forced Derek to do it."

Scott gaped in confusion.

"He gave him an ultimatum. He doesn't want me thinking about going away to school and leaving the Pack." His voice and eyes dropped. "He would have done it himself, claimed me as his mate. Derek sacrificed himself for me."

Now his best friend paled dramatically, nearly choking in shock. "Peter?"

"I...I told you he offered me the bite that night Derek killed him, right? But, I never told you he offered to claim me. The bite was going to be on the wrist. I didn't know what it meant then. I..."

"Shit."

"Yeah." Looking up Stiles saw Scott glancing around the room in confusion. "What?"

"Okay, so last night I assume, since we just saw each other yesterday morning, so where is Derek?"

"Uh..."

"Stiles, matings go on for hours, days even."

"Why do you have all this information I don't?" Stiles asked, deflecting.

"Because Peter made it clear to all of us that we had to wait until we were eighteen and what mating entails, the biting and, um, sex and other ritual stuff, and about knotting and breeding." He started stumbling over his words and Stiles sighed.

"Okay, stop. Bastard. No, not you, Peter, for not telling me shit."

"Um, he just told the werewolves, not Allison or Lydia either."

"Bastard. Anyway," he huffed, "I just...Look Scott, it wasn't great. Neither of us wanted it, I mean, I did, but not so soon, without even making out first. Yeah, we're not even dating. We've just recently decided that being friends works. Peter did this to be a major asshole to both of us. I didn't..." He could feel himself flushing and huffed out a breath again before just spilling it. "I was pretty nasty to Derek and I didn't want to, you know, enjoy it, so I didn't and then I made him leave."

Scott stared at him then gave him that 'I'm disappointed in you' face. "You know he's not my favorite person and I don't get why you like him, but, Stiles, you do. Why treat him like shit?"

"I...dunno," he replied dully. "I'm just fucking confused, Scott." He waved his phone in the air. "And Derek's avoiding me."

"Then go see him." Stiles was the one to gape this time and a small smile crossed his friend's face. "Look, you do like him. Okay, so the sex sucked. First times are pretty bad. I told you about me and Allison, right?"

"God, yes, not again."

Scott snorted. "Anyway, you're upset about this, I get that, but, and it physically pains me to say this, none of this is Derek's fault. You could have broken from the Pack when Peter came back to life. Both Derek and I told you to do that, but you refused, and I get why. Having you with us makes everything more tolerable, but it was a risk."

"Yeah. I know. Derek kept trying to get me to stop going to the house, stop letting Peter see me, and I kept pushing it. I just didn't want that psycho to win and, look, he's won."

"But this doesn't have to make you miserable. You care about Derek."

"But what if he doesn't care about me?'

Scott snorted again, in derision. "You're both so fucking thick."

Stiles made an exasperated noise. "He was a big martyr last night. I wasn't even sure he would get it..."

"God, no details!"

Rolling his eyes, Stiles took a deep, calming breath. "Okay, I got pissed at him and probably shouldn't have, but now he's ignoring me and that's pissing me off again."

"Then go out there, and be pissed at Peter not Derek."

"Huh. Preemptive strike?"

Scott grinned and rose to his feet. "Yeah. You know the best way to win this against Peter is for you and Derek to admit you like each other and make this a real relationship. Rub it in his face."

"You're getting a bit gleeful there. You may think Derek likes me likes me, but I have no clue. I couldn't even get him to admit he was attracted to me. How can we be mates if he doesn't want to fuck me?"

"I really don't want to get out the brain bleach, Stiles!"

Both boys chuckled and snorted, then Stiles rose to slap Scott on the shoulder. "Okay, good talk. Let's never do it again."

"That's about the twentieth thing we're never talking about again, right?"

"Twenty-second. You always forget the first time you got drunk and puked on...."

"GAH!"

"Or when we were thirteen and practiced kissing on each other."

"You're evil."

Stiles grinned and ushered him out the window, but once Scott was gone, he deflated, because...Could he face Peter?

*****

Exhausted from an hour long flight through the dense forest, Derek stumbled into the house and straight into his shower. He nearly dozed off beneath the spray but managed to wash the worst of the dirt, sweat and blood--as he'd been scratched by numerous branches--from his skin and hair. Haphazardly drying off, he dropped onto his bed and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling again. While running he'd managed to be in the now of the wolf and ignore the past and the future, but human again...

Thoughts of Stiles filled his head and he pressed his fists to his temples, desperately wanting to drive them away. Even as exhausted as he was, his body was at a low level of arousal.

The sex had been horrible, but also a release he had needed for so long and, once having had Stiles, he couldn't seem to stop wanting him.

But, Stiles hadn't wanted him. Derek couldn't get that out of his head. The memory of him shoving Derek's hand away when he'd reached for his cock, growling at him to just get it over with, finish, get out...

Get out.

Even though Stiles had kissed him back, had said they would work this out, he'd still made Derek leave.

And Derek had left.

Given in and given up.

So deep in his misery, he didn't hear the door open or realize someone was in his room until a snort of derision sounded.

A feminine snort.

Jerking his eyes towards the door, he glared weakly at Victoria, who stood there impeccably dressed, a sneer on her face. Jesus, in attitude she was more and more Peter's Beta every day.

"You are pathetic."

"Thanks," he snapped in return, not even bothering to cover himself, just rolling onto his stomach to ignore her.

"You've been drooling after the kid for months and here Peter gives him to you and you let him drive you away. Now you're just going to mope? Where's the big bad wolf who bit me?"

"In a fit of wolfsbane induced madness," he snarled. "Get out."

"No." She crossed the room and crouched down in his line of sight. "So, you're not the Alpha anymore. Are you really a true submissive? Did I miss that? You're letting Stiles Stilinski dictate the terms of your mating?"

After what he did to him? Yes, but he wasn't going to admit that to this bitch.

"Get out," he growled, shifting and lashing out with one clawed hand.

Surprised, Victoria fell back onto her ass, then glared at the torn nylons and bloody scatches on one leg. "Absolutely pathetic," she shot as parting words as she climbed to her feet and limped from his room.

Derek let the wolf slide away and closed his eyes tightly as his anger fled and the pain returned.

She was right, but...he couldn't make this up to Stiles. He couldn't make this any good. He just didn't know how.

And Peter had come right out and said that he expected them to have sex. Celibacy was not an option. The Alpha wasn't going to let them wait for Stiles to grow up.

The thought of forcing sex on his underage mate turned Derek's stomach. He had no clue how he'd managed it once, outside of the horrible thought of Peter claiming Stiles driving him to it.

Stiles had asked him if he wanted him and Derek couldn't remember if he'd answered him. He'd been so lost and torn by what he had to do, and realizing Stiles didn't want him had broken his heart. He hadn't sensed any arousal in Stiles, though he was sure it had been there before, and he'd been fighting his wolf to keep from making a move on the younger man because of that belief. 

Sometimes, especially when Stiles made him laugh, Derek just wanted to grab him and kiss him and...

He was sure Stiles wanted him as well.

Now...now, he had no clue if that had just been a projection of his own desires onto the younger man.

But, Stiles had kissed him back, had been the one to ask if Derek wanted him, so...maybe he'd just been thrown by the timing, the suddenness, the lack of choice. 

Although, his anger had been obvious, too.

In frustration, Derek growled at himself. He was just going round and round here. He needed to see Stiles. He needed to talk to him, but, that was still so hard for him. Even when they were together for hours, Stiles carried ninety percent of the conversation.

He was just at a total loss at how to make any of this work, make sense, make right.

*****

Stiles wasn't even out of the jeep when the front door to the Hale House opened and Peter strolled out on the porch. The Alpha looked smug and Stiles really wished he could set him on fire again. Trying to keep his face free of emotion, he climbed out of the jeep and walked towards the house.

"Good morning, Stiles."

Stopping at the foot of the steps, Stiles glared up at him, and the smile left Peter's face.

His eyes flashed red for just a moment and he bared his teeth. "I said good morning."

Suddenly, it felt like a heavy curtain dropped over Stiles, trying to force him to his knees, to bow his head, to...Oh fuck, Peter was making him submit!

The mating bond, it had pulled Stiles into the Pack.

"Good morning," he bit out, fighting to keep his eyes up even as his shoulders fell.

The pressure eased and the smirk returned to the Alpha's face. "Now, was being civil so hard?"

"Is Derek here?" He continued to glower but that just seemed to amuse the older man, who made a sweeping gesture behind him.

"He's moping in his room. He seems to think you're unhappy, Stiles."

Ignoring that comment and steeling himself to walk past Peter, Stiles mounted the steps and was at the open door before Peter spoke again. 

"This is for the best, Stiles." The hand on his shoulder sent a frisson of fear through him and when Peter leaned in to whisper in his ear, he downright shuddered. "Make him happy, Stiles, or I'll make him cement the mating bond in the old ways and you'll bear my mark and be under my control for the rest of your life. Do you really want me that...involved in your mating?" His fingers squeezed around the bite mark and Stiles winced in pain. 

"No."

Suddenly Derek was in front of him, wearing only a pair of navy boxer briefs. "Peter, let him go."

"Say the magic word."

"Please," Derek forced out through clenched teeth, and Stiles nearly sighed in relief when Peter released him and stepped back.

"Far be it from me to interfere."

While Derek gave his uncle an incredulous look, Stiles was the one to bark out a harsh laugh of disbelief.

Chuckling, Peter headed down the steps with a cheery, "Going into town. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," shot over his shoulder.

A minute passed, then an engine turned over, and Stiles finally found his voice. "Um...you didn't come by this morning."

"Did you want to run?" Derek asked, surprised.

"God no, but..." Dropping his eyes and his shoulders, Stiles nodded towards the interior. "Can we talk?"

Nodding back, Derek stepped aside and, after Stiles entered, led him upstairs to his room. There were no chairs, so Stiles leaned against a wall looking around the nearly barren interior in disbelief while the older man pulled on a pair of well-worn jeans and a dingy white t-shirt. Then he went to the mattress and fiddled with the sheet, pulling it up to cover the bare mattress.

"You really live like this?"

Derek shot him a dark look and Stiles sighed. 

"Okay. Okay." Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the mattress and sank gingerly down on it, scooting back until he could lean against the wall, legs stretched out in front of him. "Was this your room before?"

Slowly Derek nodded before sinking to the floor, legs folded together. 

"Need help decorating?"

"Except for stabilizing it and making sure the electricity and water works, Peter hasn't begun renovating this section of the house yet. I'm sure he has plans."

"Yeah, he has lots of plans." That came off a bit bitter and Stiles watched emotions flicker across Derek's usually impassive face and his nostrils flare.

"Are you...okay?"

Stiles flushed but nodded. "Sore, but I expected that. Are you okay, Derek?"

He looked startled. "I wasn't the one hurt."

"Emotionally. Come on, you weren't ready for this either. Don't tell me you're all happy happy, or you would have come by this morning and wouldn't have ignored my many phone calls."

"...Happy?" Slowly Derek shook his head and stared down at his lap. "I should never have given Peter any indication that there was even friendship between us."

Latching onto that last bit, Stiles felt the ache in his chest lift just a tiny bit. "So we're friends, but do you want me?"

"I've liked you for a long time, Stiles. I was too obvious about..."

"Derek," Stiles interrupted sharply, then moderated his tone, "I have to know this. Liking is different from physical attraction. Do you want me? Do you want any guy?"

Color stained the wolf's cheeks but he still didn't look up as he slowly nodded. "I want you."

"Did you before last night?"

"Yes."

The ache lifted even more. So, the desire on Derek's part wasn't caused by the mating bond. "Okay, okay, we can work with that."

"You didn't want me last night."

Fuck, that sounded heartbroken, and Stiles stumbled over his words in replying. "I was mad, Derek. Pissed at myself, at you, at the situation, and so fucking angry at Peter. I just...I wanted it done and settled, and I shouldn't have been so cruel about it because you told me over and over to stay away from the house and Peter and I kept poking the wolf. Jesus, he could have just claimed me anytime he wanted, so I know how fucking lucky I am, because, you know, right? How attracted I am to you? How much I've wanted you for months?"

Slowly Derek looked up and his eyes were just a bit lighter, his eyebrows no longer a tight furrow across his face. "I wasn't imagining it?"

"How could you?" Stiles scoffed lightly. "I had to be reeking of arousal."

Derek actually snorted as he nodded, but then his eyes fell again. "I just thought, after last night, maybe..."

"That I wouldn't want you still?" Stiles let his own shoulders sag. He'd really screwed this up. He'd never seen Derek so hesitant. The wolf looked lost.

"You made me leave," he whispered.

The ache returned, making his heart beat faster, and Stiles sighed sadly. "I was confused, hurting, scared of everything, Derek. I shouldn't have pushed you away."

"You shouldn't have been forced into this at all," Derek lashed out, finally looking up again, and this time his eyes flashed bright blue in anger and frustration.

"No, we," he stressed, "should have been allowed to let this develop on its own. We should have gotten the chance to date and kiss and make out in the backseat of your car. That we didn't get the chance before having sex is all on Peter. Okay, yeah, I know I was stupid to keep putting myself in his way, but I'm not going to victim shame myself."

"Not your fault, no. I shouldn't have..."

"Not your fault either," Stiles snapped. "Peter's the villain here. Now we make the best of this and we start by getting the truth out. I want you. I wanted you pretty much from the first time I saw you and, Hell, I'd never seriously been attracted to a guy before you and it threw me for a loop." After nearly a minute of silence, he sighed and pointed to Derek. "Now, you share."

The constipated look he got in response almost made him crow.

"Okay. I..." Derek ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it in frustration and Stiles found that adorable. "In New York, I never dated women. I just...I couldn't. But I'm not a monk. There were guys."

"You said you hadn't been with a guy."

At the rise of Derek's eyebrows and the tightening of his lips, Stiles shut up. "My sharing, right? I said I hadn't done that, hadn't fucked a guy. I did other things. None of it was great, but it wasn't because I wasn't attracted to men. I always have been. It wasn't great because I was, am...broken." His voice dropped off to a soft grunt.

"I'm good at fixing things," Stiles said softly and was rewarded with another grunt, but it wasn't really a sad one so he counted that on the plus side. "So, I've been hoping for the last two months for you to kiss me. I wish...I wish we'd kissed before last night."

"I...You're too young. I couldn't do that to you."

"Even though I wanted it? You?"

"I was going to wait."

"You know it's not illegal for an adult to date and kiss a minor, right?"

"I...was afraid if I kissed you I wouldn't have stopped there."

Stiles couldn't help it. He grinned.

"This isn't funny!" Derek's anger sobered him up immediately. "I broke the law. For fuck's sake, you're not only underage, you're the Sheriff's son, and you were a virgin."

"Yeah, and I'm still two of those, and there's no way to change that. Ultimatums have the word 'ultimate' in them for a reason. The only other choice still would have seen me claimed and not a virgin anymore, but Peter would have destroyed my life, maybe killed...my dad," he choked out.

"You're sixteen."

"Get over that, Derek. Do you know how many of my friends, your Pack mates, are having sex? Every single one of them and every one of them is legally a minor."

"And their partners are minors as well," Derek argued back.

"And emotionally you're stunted so you might as well be!"

They glared at each other until both just deflated and a new thought hit Stiles. "Why can't I feel your anger?"

"I've closed down the bond."

"Because I'm leaking emotion all over the place?"

"No. I mean, yes, you are, but you shouldn't have to feel what I..."

"No, it doesn't work like that. Yeah, last night when you stopped the panic attack I freaked out a bit because I didn't know the bond would let us feel stuff like that, but it's normal, right? And for me to feel you as well?" When Derek finally nodded, Stiles continued as persuasively as he could, "Then you open it up. Teach me control. We're going to be together for the rest of our lives. We have to make this work."

"You shouldn't...You aren't bound like me. You can want..."

"Shut up." Derek's eyes widened at the vehemence in Stiles' voice. "I know that, but I'm not stupid. Peter's not going to give me any kind of freedom like that even if you think you can, and do you really think your wolf, your possessive wolf, would turn a blind eye?"

"You can fall in love with someone else."

"I won't let myself," Stiles snapped back in the face of Derek's stubbornness. "We're together. We're mates."

Silence fell for a moment, then Derek drew his knees up to wrap his arms around them. "Why are you so accepting?"

"Because there's only so much I can fight against and this isn't something I want to deny. I want you. I like you. Hopefully it'll become something more, and my age means shit all to me. I grew up the day I realized werewolves were real. No, I grew up the day my mom died when I was twelve."

Slowly Derek nodded in understanding, and they both fell silent for a while until Stiles' ass began to go numb and he shifted onto one hip which brought the wolf's attention to him like a laser beam.

"Do you think that...well...maybe someday you might...enjoy it?"

Stiles stared at him, then smirked slightly. "One, there was way too much umming in that sentence even if you didn't um, and, two, I hope to enjoy it in a couple days."

Derek flushed. Stiles found that adorable.

"Would you like to top me?"

For some reason that idea had never crossed his mind, but now that it was out there, Stiles was 'hell yes!'. But... "Will Peter allow that?"

Now Derek scowled. "Peter may be our Alpha and he may insist that we have sex on a regular basis, but he has no say in what that sex consents of."

"Are you sure?"

"There's a part of him that wants to hurt me but there's a larger part that wants to make me happy. And I really believe he wants a stable pack. We can't be stable if he's that intrusive. He hasn't insisted Scott break up with Allison or insisted Lydia join the Pack even though she's with Jackson."

"Okay, I'll trust you know the psycho better than me. But, on to more logistical issues, how is this going to work? I mean, my dad, I don't want him to know about werewolves or any of this, but I don't really want to keep you some dirty secret either."

"I don't know. I don't mind our relationship being secret outside of the Pack, but if you want him to know, well, we face the problem of our ages."

Stiles sighed and rubbed a hand over his head. "Yeah, but it's not illegal for you to date me. I just have to broach the subject carefully with him."

Derek's eyes widened a bit. "So...you want us to date?"

"Yeah. I said, not a dirty secret. And, dude, the cache I will gain at school by dating a former person of interest, older and major hottie with abs of steel..."

Snorting, Derek let his legs drop back down, uncurling from his defensive ball. "So, how did Scott take it?"

"...How?"

"His scent is overlaying yours enough for me to know you saw him today and, since I can still smell our mating on you, I assume even he could as well."

Rolling his eyes, Stiles nodded. "Yeah. Okay, well, at first he wanted to come beat the crap out of you, but once I told him it was Peter's fault, he stopped being pissed at you. It may be a bit tense between the two of you, but then when isn't it?"

Now Derek rolled his eyes before climbing gracefully to his feet. "Okay, so I'll try to get over my issues and we'll work on us," he mumbled as if the words were being squeezed from him, but then he asked more easily, "Want to go get lunch?"

A punch of joy hit him and Stiles scrambled to his foot, then gulped when the wolf's hand came down lightly on his ass, which started to feel much better. "Dude, are you taking my pain?"

"I caused it."

"Derek..."

"I don't like seeing you hurting," he mumbled then drew his hand away and they both watched the black lines disappear from his arm.

"My lips are a bit sore, maybe you should kiss them and make them better, too."

"And why are your lips sore?"

"Just go with it," Stiles argued, pressing against Derek's chest and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Caught between a sigh and a smile, Derek met his lips in a soft, tender kiss, and Stiles could feel his wary happiness.

Derek had opened the bond.

*****

After lunch at Little Caesar's, where Stiles picked all the pepperoni off of Derek's part of the four meat pizza, and they talked about everything but their mating and werewolf stuff, they drove back to the house in peaceful quiet, listening to soft music on the radio and letting the warm breeze blow through the open windows of the car.

Once inside the cool interior of the house Derek took Stiles hand, leading him past Peter who stood in the library's doorway watching with creepy approval, and up the stairs to his bedroom again, where he closed the door behind them. A ceiling fan had been one of the things added to each upstairs room with the repairing of the electrical system, and Derek flipped the switch for it, then pulled the curtains, darkening the room.

When he looked back at Stiles, he saw his mate fidgeting. "I can feel how tired you are and I didn't sleep at all last night. I thought maybe..." His voice dropped off as uncertainty filled him, but then Stiles nodded and kicked off his shoes and reached for the button of his jeans.

"Napping sounds really good."

"In the early stages of the mating, we should...we should touch a lot."

"That sounds really good, too." Down to his boxers and t-shirt, Stiles collapsed onto the mattress, moving against the wall and up to the pillows. "We're getting a real bed, though."

"Okay."

"I like you all agreeable." Stiles grinned and Derek rolled his eyes, though secretly he was relieved his mate's attitude remained undaunted. The night before he'd been so afraid Stiles would change and he'd hate him or, worse, stop caring at all.

But, talking did help clear the air. It was difficult for him, but Stiles sometimes made him want to talk.

Stripping quickly to his boxer briefs, he knelt down on the mattress, then curled next to Stiles, facing him. Carefully he reached out and placed a hand on his waist, sliding it up under his t-shirt. He felt Stiles' pulse quicken, but then his hand hesitantly went to Derek's arm, running up to his shoulder and resting there.

"After last night, I...I never thought..."

"Shh, Derek. It's okay. I was an ass, I'm sorry. We'll be okay. We are okay," Stiles stressed, moving closer until they were sharing a pillow and their knees brushed.

"My parents were so happy," Derek whispered, not sure why he was sharing this, but he wanted so much to have what they had. He had a mate now, and while they'd be distressed about how it had happened, they'd have loved Stiles, he knows that. "They're my role models for a contented mating. I want that, Stiles."

"We'll have it, I promise," Stiles whispered back, and Derek moved his head a bit closer so he could kiss him. Nothing passionate or needy about the kiss, just tenderness. Stiles returned it and then pulled back, smiling, before lifting his head so Derek could slide his other arm under it. "I wish I'd let you do this last night."

There was truth in his words and his heart, and emotion nearly choked Derek. He didn't know if it was the mating bond, or the feelings he'd been denying for so long, but he cared so much already.

Maybe more than caring.

But the last person he'd loved romantically had destroyed his world and even his wolf was hesitant to feel that emotion again for someone.

Maybe, though, maybe they could build to it...together.

"Stop brooding," Stiles teased and squeezed his shoulder before reaching down to wrap their hands together and bring them between their chests. "Sleep."

Watching the younger man's eyes drift shut, Derek felt his own exhaustion swamp him, but he was no longer filled with dread or sorrow or loss. Those emotions had been drive out by hope.

His wolf huffed in contentment and Derek slipped into sleep.

End


End file.
